Sensible Heart
by GraceCullenToTheRescue
Summary: AU.AH. B, A, and R move into a new house, making new friends next door. Will friends become more or will sensible hearts reign over love? BxE, AxJ, RxEm.
1. World Spins Madly On

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HERE I GO! okay, so it's my first chapter of my first story EVER! I'm excited and nervous. But I do hope some of you give it a try. Bare with me, though, because it is my first and I'm just getting the hang of it. Sorry it's so choppy.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. All that fabulous stuff belongs to Stephanie Meyer.**

**Wish me luck! Enjoy.**

**world spins madly on = great song by The Weepies. go check it.**

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Chapter 1: World Spins Madly On

"Tell me again, Alice, why I carried all of mine _and_ your luggage up the stairs?" I asked while rubbing my back.

"Because you love me very, very much!" Alice said, grinning.

"True!" I grinned back at my best friend who was sitting on one of the many cardboard boxes in the living room.

"And because you're a push-over," Rose countered from her place upon yet another brown box.

"False!" I yelled as I poked her in the ribs. Unfortunately though, for me, it started a tickle war, which Alice joined in on, and, like usual, I was the first to give in. What can I say? I'm ticklish.

Ten minutes later, the war had ended and we were back to looking wearily around the room at the strewn boxes.

"You know, we really should unpack." A series of 'mmmhhmm's and 'yep's ensued as we looked around the room at the many boxes of our possessions, but not one of the three of us made a move to start unpacking.

"Well, I say we go next door and thank my big brother for putting the boxes into our fabulous new home. What do you guys think?" asked Alice as she started for the hallway.

"Sounds good to me!" And at that, the three of us were out the door.

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Alice and I had been friends since I can remember. My dad, Charlie, and Alice's parents, Carlisle and Esme, were really close. SO by the time Alice and I started school, we were inseparable.

When Alice and I were starting high school, we met Rosalie Hale. I thought she was frightening at first. All the guys at Forks High drooled over her – not that I cared because they were all annoying. But I guess Rosalie saw this too because she never really fell into that crowd. She did, however, start eating lunch with Alice and me. Rose took us under her wing and, although she had problems at home, always took care of us. The three of us became a unit, never leaving each other's sides.

Alice's family was very wealthy and Esme and Carlisle always made sure that Al and her brother, Emmet, had everything they wanted. Surprisingly though, neither Alice nor Emmet were bratty because of it.

On the other hand, Rosalie had a hard time at home so usually spent most of her time at either mine or Alice's place. Rosalie's parents drank a lot and by the end of our ninth grade, social services had placed Rose permanently under my dad's care. Now, she's practically my sister.

As for me,my parents split up when I was a baby and I don't really talk to my mom anymore. I haven't seen her in a couple years. We mostly just didn't stay in touch. So Charlie raised me for the most part and I'm thankful for it. He can be awkward and stubborn sometimes but I genuinely love him.

So after graduation, there really was no choice but to go to the same University. Rose, Al, and I chose UVIC because we'd gone to Victoria a couple times and really enjoyed the city. We like it because it wasn't too big or too small. Alice's dad dabbles in real estate when he gets bored and it turned out that he just 'happened' to have a couple houses in Victoria. Emmett already lived in Victoria for a year, so we decided to move next door to him.

Our new house was truly beautiful. It had white siding and a wrap-a-round porch. Emmet's was more of a party pad but I thought ours was more me.

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Rose, Al, and I stood on the porch, waiting for Emmett to answer the door, although I doubt anyone could hear us knock, from the loud music pumping through the house. But I guess I was wrong because a few minutes later, a cute guy with light brown curly hair answered the door.

As soon as he opened the door, his eyes were transfixed on Alice and hers' on him. There was a short silence until I heard Emmett boom, "Yo Jazz! Someone at the door?" The guy at the door finally tore his eyes from Alice to look up at Rose and I. He mumbled, "Uhhh…yeah..." Alice regained her state of mine and yelled back to Emmett, "It's your little sister and your other new neighbors, you big lug!"

At that, Emmett came quickly down the hall. "Yo, neighbor!" In the doorway, grinning from each to ear, than enveloped Alice in one of Emmett's signature bear hugs. "Hey little sis," he said to Alice.

Then he turned to me and I backed away a little, but Emmett ignored the sign and the big bear crushed me in his arms anyway.

"Hey other little sis!"

"Hey Em...can you put me down now? I can't br-breathe." I gasped out. Emmett chuckled and released me before turning to Rosalie.

"Hi Emmett," she said, lifting her hand in a little wave. The action, surprisingly, was almost nervous. Believe me, I didn't think Rose _could_ be nervous. It just wasn't possible. At least untill now.

"Hey Rosie," Emmett replied with a grin on his mouth and a twinkle in his eye.

When we lived in Forks, both Rose and Emmett had had small flings with people, but they were mostly just to keep them occupied. I think I always knew that there was a special connection between them. Maybe all they needed was a new place to light that connection on fire.

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Introductions were made with 'Guy at Door' - who turned out to be Emmett's roomate, Jasper.

We got a small tour of the first level of the house, and the five of us sat down in the living room, me and Rose on bean bags, Emmett in a lazy boy, and Alice and Jasper sat on the couch with a little distance between each other. Music from the Kooks rang through the house.

"So," I started,"were did you two meet?"

"School," Emmett answered through a mouthful of Cheesies.

"What Emmett means is that we worked on campus. The three of us worked at the Starbucks." Jasper corrected and ran a hand through his curly hair. Rose spoke up then. "What do you mean by the three of you? I thought it was just you two."

Emmett shook his head enthusiastically. "Nope! Eddie is off visiting his mommy in Chicago."

We all looked at Jasper for a more detailed explanation. "Our other roommate, _Eddie, _is in Chicago with his mom right now. Should be back in a couple days."

"Hey guys!" Emmett boomed from the lazy boy,"we should have a BBQ when Eddie gets back!"

Everyone looked at Emmett and laughed a little at his outburts. Sometimes, I didn't think Emmett actually understood that he was 19.

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We all agreed that on Friday night, 4 days away, we'd all get together for the barbecue. Everyone would be pretty busy untill the weekend anyway. I applied for a job at Willowpark Assisted Living Residence (an old people' home). I genuinely thought it would be pretty interesting to hear different people's stories and to hear them talk about their lives- plus the pay was really great. I did an interview with a really cheery woman and found out that I got the job.

Rose would be pretty busy as well. Jasper was the only one that still worked at the Starbucks and Emmett worked at a garage across town. Rose always loved working on cars in Forks and she was really good at it too, always restoring old ones or vamping up new ones. Emmett knew Rose loved cars and told her about a position that was free at the garage as an assisstant/secretary/all round helper. Apparently, Emmett had told his boss that Rose was really great and so the position was hers if she wanted it. Rose immediately accepted it of course. I think she just wanted to spend more time with Emmett.

It was June and classes didn't start untill September, so we had a bunch of time to just hang out and make money for school. Alice wasn't doing anything really untill school started because she didn't need a job except for working on her own designs. She was going to study marketing and fashion at UVIC, while Rosalie was mechanics and business, and me, psychology and journalism. We weren't all planning to be having double majors. We were just starting out like that first, untill we decided.

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When I stepped into Willowpark for my first day of work, I realized that it didn't smell characteristically like an old folks' home, which I was very glad of. It was quite fresh on the inside. The wallpaper was pretty tacky, but how much can you ask for? Sue, the cheery woman from my interview, came over then and greeted me warmly. "Hello Bella," she said, shaking my hand,"follow me, we'll get you all set up."

I had expected a day of boring orientation, but it wasn't as bad as I though it would be. Sue introduced me to a nice girl named Angela that would be working at the front desk with me. She looked about my age and seemed pretty sweet when I talked to her, while Sue was just running off to help an elderly, man who was lost, get back to his room. "It's a nice place to work," she said, "I think you'll enjoy it. Sue takes over the front desk when activities in the afternoon are going on - meaning we have to take part in the activities. Don't worry though, they're really not that bad. There's bingo on Saturday, water arobics on Sunday, family day on Monday, umm...Tuesday's dancing, Wednesday's..."

Okay. I was expecting maybe having to play cards or bridge or maybe read someone a book or two. But swimming and dancing? Deffinitely not good at either. Deffinitely. At least I'll only be surrounded by geriatrics - and Angela. No biggie.

Sue came back arter a while and gave me the run down on the place. Angela gave me a tour, showing me the dining hall where most of the activities also take place, the newly renovated pool, and the several wards where the residents live. I was wrong in thinking that it would just be old people living there, as it also had people with mental problems whose families' just couldn't take care of them. Although it was a very nice place and probably quite expensive to live there, I would never want to live in a place like it. There simply wasn't enough freedom.

Because it was only an orientation day, I was allowed to leave at noon. I was glad for it because I knew that Alice and Rose wouldn't be home for a while and I'd get some peace and quiet. I loved them to death, but their excited squeels can be a bit much sometimes. After stopping downtown to get some groceries, I headed back home in my old truck, wanting to get my head into my new book while I had the quiet at home.

Turning up the driveway, I realized that I hadn't put a set of keys in my bag because I had thought I would be last home that night. And even though I knew the door would be locked, I stood on the front porch trying the door knob 10 times, seeing if the the gods would grant me my wish this one time. But they didn't, so I slumped into the bench next to the door, dropping the grocery bags on the ground.

I sat there for a while, just watching the street, kids riging their bikes, a dog laying in the sun, an old woman pruning a rose bush, untill a thought popped into my brain: I could climb the lattice on the side of the house up to the balcony off my room. I was positive that the doors on the bacony were unlocked since I had opened them to let the air in that morning, seeing as it was sweltering hot at 8:00 that morning. Heat waves blow.

Leaving my shopping bags on the porch to either come back to them or collect after i got inside, I walked around to the side of the house with my room(the side facing Emmett's place). I wondered why I was doing this, seeing as I could win the award for most clumsy, but not wanting to wait around for at least 3 hours for someone to get home. So I stuck my foot in the first holding in the lattice. My hands held me up as I took shaky step after shaky step up the side of the house. As my legs started to shake and my hands start to slip, an unfamiliar, but beautiful, voice from behind me shouted, "Why are you climbing up my neighbours' house?" He didn't necessarily sound angry, just curious and ...amusemed? I turned my head around to see a guy around my age leaning out a window directly across from me in Emmett's house, no make that a Greek god with flaming red hair and peicing green eyes leaning out a window directly across from me in Emmett's house. He was the most handsome person I'd ever seen. But the amused expression on his face turned me back to the task at hand, but unfortunately, not quick enough, as my fingers slipped from the lattice and I lost my footing as well as I came closer and closer with the ground.

Then everything went black.

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SO, that was it. Now I know you may feel like flaming me for it being so bad. But please don't. I dont mind constructive criticism though!

If you review, I'll send Rob in a crate to your house. Talk about a good present! :)


	2. Say Hello Wave Goodbye

**Thanks for reviews! I don't really like this chapter but I hope you do!**

**Read and Review please!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Simple as that.**

**Enjoy!**

**Say Hello Wave Goodbye = pretty song by David Gray. check it**

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Chapter 2: Say Hello Wave Goodbye

A searing pain throbbed in my head with every beat of my heart. I was vaguely aware of being in someone's arms and having them call my name, but I wasn't exactly coherent. I wondered how I got there but couldn't keep focus long enough to figure it out. After a little while, which felt like hours, the pain began to ease and I slightly opened my eyes, squinting to make out the face leaning over me. I couldn't recognize who the person holding me so comfortably was. "Hello?" asked the unfamiliar person, who now I knew was a guy, but still didn't know who. He certainly wasn't someone I knew.

I opened my eyes wider and saw that it was the guy that had yelled out of Emmett's window. God, he was so good-looking. But why was he here? Why was I there? "What happened?" I asked incredulously. I was shocked that my voice came out so raspy.

The stranger ran a hand through his shiny bronze-colored hair and frowned a little. "It seems that you fell off the lattice on my neighbors' house when you were climbing up it. Do you remember why you were doing it?"

Recognition flooded my brain as I remembered the afternoon. Looking around the room, I noted that I was sitting on his lap on what looked to be Emmett's couch in his living room. I came to the conclusion that we were in Emmett's house after a couple of minutes. Falling from big heights can do stuff to one's memory. I nodded to his question. "How long have I been out?" I asked, knowing, from past clumsy experiences, quite a lot about falling and even concussions, which I probably had.

"'Bout five minutes I'd say. But are you gonna tell me _why_ you were breaking into my neighbors' house? Because I might have to call someone before I take you to go get checked out at the hospital." I snickered at that just because it was such a ridiculous thought. He frowned a little again and looked me in the eye. His bright green eyes made me pause before answering. It was like staring into a sea of emeralds, but I reminded myself to stay concentrated. Concussions really do mess with one's mind.

I sat up a little in his lap, a little self – conscious in our position, even with a probable brain injury. "I just forgot my keys and was going to go inside through the doors to my bedroom. I was climbing up the side of _my_ house and was going to go into _my_ house… But… my balance got the better of me." I concluded as my face burned a little with embarrassment. Stupid blushing. Stupid clumsiness.

"Whoa. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude but when someone is climbing up your neighbors' house, you assume the worse. Or at least I do." He murmured apologetically, almost looking a little embarrassed himself. "I guess we better get you off to get checked out at the hospital. You know in case …you have …a…uh…problem or something…" He trailed off and I could see he really was sorry for presuming that I was a criminal. It truly was comical though. I mean, it was me. Bella Swan. Forks's Chief's of Police daughter. The worst crime I've ever committed is throwing a glass of juice on a jock, Mike Newton's, head one time when he called Rosalie "easy."

"I really don't think that's necessary. I've fallen a lot. I'm a clumsy person. All they did last time I got a small concussion was sending me home and telling me to rest." I told him, really not wanting to have to go to the hospital when it wasn't needed and would just be a nuisance.

"You do realize that you just fell off a wall from about 6 meters right? I don't think you'd be in the right mind to judge if you had a concussion which you probably do. So, sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer." At that, he picked me up in his arms and started walking for the door, despite my protests.

I gave in when he was about to walk down the stairs with me in his arms. I didn't _not_ take into account that his fairly pronounced biceps were holding me up. But I wanted to be independent. "Fine you can take me to the hospital, but I can walk by myself," I countered. He looked a little worried, or weary – I couldn't tell, but he set me down on my feet. I took one step and stumbled, nearly landing straight on my butt. Luckily, though, a strong pair of arms caught me before I hit the ground.

We stood there, silent, staring into each other's eyes. It was the most intense moment I had ever had with a complete stranger. His arms were so tight around me and our faces were so close that when I broke the silence with, "What's your name anyway?" I'm sure he could feel my breath on his face. It shocked him out of the sort of trance he had been caught in and he responded by pulling away but still having both his hands on my shoulders to keep me from collapsing again. He smirked and looked away. "Edward. I'm Edward Cullen."

"Do you mind if I call my friend quickly to tell her where I'm going?" I asked, pulling out my cell. He nodded quickly, but looked back up at me from where his gaze was on the floor. I dialed Alice's number quickly and told her what happened and that I didn't need her to come to the hospital, but she insured that everyone would be there as soon as they could. I put my phone away and looked hastily up at Edward.

To my surprise, he stepped toward me and scooped me up in his arms to walk towards his car, a silver Volvo sitting outside the house. I didn't complain, as I probably would have made a fool of myself again in front of the most beautiful guy I'd ever seen if I was allowed to walk on my own. He opened the door for me when we arrived at his car and helped me inside. He almost tried to help me put on my seat belt but stopped when I murmured, "I've got it, thanks," quietly. After we got on the road and started to one of the two hospitals in Victoria, I contemplated how such an amazing guy probably has a girlfriend and how he would never like me anyway, seeing as I was pretty much the most plain Jane in the history of the world. The silence in the car was a little uncomfortable as we started the 20 minute drive there. I realized then that Edward was probably the "Eddie" Emmett talked about. Gosh, concussion brains are _slow._

"So you're Emmett and Jasper's roommate in Chicago right now then?" I asked, slightly confused as to why he was in Victoria and hoping he wasn't some weirdo named Edward, squatting in Emmett's house. At least concussion's give one vivid imaginations.

Edward ran his hand through his hair then flicked his eyes toward me with a little amusement. "Uh. Yeah. I was staying with my mom and she had to leave town to…travel for her work. So I left a couple days early." He turned his attention back to the road after that for a while. I was pretty happy that he had said as much as that. I was expecting a curt reply.

"How do you know Emmett?" he asked with a little furrow in his brow and looking slightly upset. A little surprised by his question, I paused.

"I grew up with him in Forks. His sister, Alice, and I are best friends. We moved next door to your place with our friend Rosalie." I told him, not thinking he really cared how the heck I knew Emmett. However, he nodded in understanding, looking a bit disappointed for some reason, and continued asking questions. "So why did you decide to live here?" I was guessing that he meant Victoria, not next door to him.

"We just liked the place. It's not like the three of us were into big cities or anything. Alice and Rose would probably thrive in a bigger city but they assure me that small towns don't hold them back. They truly make the best of any situation. I mean, they're my best friends and I like them a bunch." I rambled but it was like I couldn't stop. My cheeks began to burn. "Sorry. I ramble."

He turned a little towards me and smiled crookedly. It was by far the best expression I'd ever seen on a face. "Do I make you nervous?" he asked, still smiling. My face, I knew, had grown impossibly redder than it was before. "N-No of course not…I…it's probably just the concussion…" I trailed off, sinking into the seat, biting my lip. How could this guy who I'd only met in the last hour have such an effect on me? And was he flirting with me? Why would he flirt with me? I probably looked horrible. He wasn't flirting with me. It was the concussion talking.

"So," he began again, "do you have a job yet or something?" Did this amazing guy just have a thing about awkward silences? I mean, he didn't look particularly interested.

"Uhh…yeah actually I do. I work at Willowpark," I answered, really wondering if he cared. "You know the assisted living place?" A strange expression covered his face then. I couldn't quite make it out.

"Yeah I know it," he replied curtly. It was silent for a while after and I was generally confused by Edward's mood changes. When the silence began to drag on, he reached out to turn on the stereo in the car. The song that filled the car was familiar and surprisingly soothing to my headache. "Damien Rice is great," I said quietly, not particularly wanting or _expecting_ an answer.

Edward turned slightly and looked me in the eye. "You like this stuff?" he asked, a little surprised I guess in my taste of music. I nodded and quirked my eyebrow a little, "Why are you so surprised?" I asked.

Edward ran a hand through his hair, a motion I noticed he did a lot, at least in the last hour I'd known him. He smirked at me and replied, "I don't know…you just didn't seem like the kind of girl…" He trailed off. I was slightly pissed off at his comment. Why should he care who I am? He's only known me for an hour and he was already making judgments.

"How do you know what kind of girl I am?" I asked, a bit irritated, but found myself blushing due to my rude outburst. He did help me and was perfect. I shouldn't have been so sensitive. I wasn't surprised when he apologized though, seeing as he was a gentleman. "Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed anything but I was…pleasantly surprised." My ears perked up at that moment and a small blush came to my cheeks. Stupid blushing. "What other kinds of stuff do you listen to?" he asked, genuinely seeming interested, or at least I thought so.

"Um…I don't know. I've got a pretty varied taste. Let me think…I like melodic stuff, like A Fine Frenzy and Imogen Heap, or stuff like Iron and Wine, or James Taylor. But I like upbeat stuff too, like the Kooks." I answered, a little embarrassed again for rambling. He'd been nodding when I was talking and I assumed he liked some of the stuff I had mentioned.

"Looks like we've got similar music tastes," he said, smiling crookedly, making me smile too. Unfortunately, though, when the conversation was getting relaxed, we pulled into the hospital parking lot.

It was a fairly light day at the Walk-In so it didn't take much time for my name to get called to go see a doctor. Edward helped me up from my seat in the waiting room and helped me walk towards the door where I was to wait for the doctor. Before he let the nurse help me get ready, he stared into my eyes and asked me what my name was. "It's Isabella Swan," I replied, "but call me Bella."

"Bella," he said, just trying out my name, I suppose. The last thing I saw of him before the nurse closed he door was his crooked smile.

The doctor blabbed on about how my headache might last, loss of balance, confusion, and how I shouldn't drink alcohol or do drugs...blah, blah, blah. I was allowed to go after ten minutes of questions and was told to rest. I kept thinking about Edward sitting outside in the waiting room, waiting for me, or at least I hoped he would be there. I walked out of the room and found Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper sitting where Edward had been. Alice ran up to me and hugged me. "Bella! I'm so glad you're okay! You're okay right?! What were you thinking?! Climbing up the house? With your clumsiness ? God, Bella." She looked genuinely worried and I felt bad, but she was talking fairly loud and we were in a waiting room.

"How about we talk about this on the way home?" I asked, wanting to stop disrupting the other patients. Rose came up beside me then and as we walked outside, said, "That reminds me, Bella, how did you get here?" Jasper and Emmett followed behind us. I looked out to where Edward had parked his Volvo, sad that he had left before I got out, just quick enough to see the car speed away, out of the lot.

"I took a taxi," I replied to Rose, "Weird driver though."

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**So did ya like it? I hope you did. **

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